


The Loudest Voice in the Room is Silence

by TheUnassumingDoctor



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: 5.3k, Angst, Drug Use, Happy Ending, Hugs, I'm sorry for this, Johnlock - Freeform, Kidlock, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Sad, Sherlock telling a story, Sherlock's parents are not good, The life of Sherlock, Unilock, abusive parents (Verbal), not season 3 compatible
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 11:41:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3118832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUnassumingDoctor/pseuds/TheUnassumingDoctor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a young run-away child is brought in to Scotland Yard, Sherlock helps the child and himself deal with the problems in their lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is not Beta-ed or Brit-Picked. Sorry if there is any problems. I'm not sure how schooling works in England so if the way I wrote it is super wrong please let me know to I can fix it.

“John, I’m glad you could make it! We have a little run-away boy and he won’t talk to us. We were wondering, since you are so good with children, you could try to talk to him?”

“I don’t know if I am any good at that, but I will try.”

“He is a run-away?” Sherlock asked.

“Yes, why?” Lestrade asked.

“Can I talk to him? I won’t scare him, I promise.”

“I don’t know Sherlock, you don’t have the best track record with children.”

“Lestrade, please. I think I can help.”

“Sherlock are you sure this is something you can do?” John wondered.

“I can John, I need to. Please.” Sherlock begged.

“Okay fine but if this starts to go wrong I’m pulling you out. Got it?” Lestrade told the Detective.

“I promise.”

Sherlock straightened his back and pushed open the door to the interrogation room. Inside was a boy about six or seven years old. He was scared, but trying very hard not to show it. A Brave little man. 

“Hello, you don’t have to speak to me, but can I tell you a story?”

With a nod from the boy, Sherlock took a deep breath and began.

“Once upon a time there was a little boy named William. He was born to a wealthy family, but he almost never saw his parents. They were always away at work or some fancy event, so the boy was raised by a string of nannies. 

Ever since little William was born, these nannies watched over him. The told him when to eat, when to sleep, when to play. Much like a mother or father would have done. But there was no love. The nannies did their job and that was all. The just made sure the child ate and slept. The nannies never stayed long. But when one would leave another always showed up to take her place. A few of the nannies took it upon themselves to teach the boy their languages. They came from all over the world and brought their languages with them and each tried to share it with the child. 

But the boy would never speak.


	2. Chapter 2

Every day the nannies would say “William, will you speak?” and every day they were met with silence. They began to worry about the small child and even called his parents to express their concern. However, all the parents said was “He is still young. He’ll figure it out. We told you not to bother us unless it was something important”. So the nannies went about their jobs careful not to anger their employer. They fed the child and sent him to bed, day after day. 

When William was two years old, he had a nanny names Mrs. Alberts. She decided this boy was going to get an education whether or not he could speak. Mrs. Alberts took it upon herself to teach the boy to read and write. She introduced him to books and from that day on the child grabbed anything he could and read it. With the knowledge of reading, young William began to learn about other subjects. He studied science, history, and mathematics. He excelled in all of them, but still the child never spoke.

During the Holidays young William’s brother came back from school. His brother was older and smarter and little William envied him. His older brother could go anywhere and learn everything, while he was stuck here at the house with nowhere to go. When the big brother entered William’s room to tell him their parents had arrived, he saw stacks and stacks of books. Books from every subject and all of them were very advance for a five year old boy to understand. Little William was right in the middle of the stacks with an advance calculus in one hand and a pen in the other. Filling out problem after problem, page after page.

So big brother when to speak to his parents. A child this smart should be in school, not at home. He needs friends, he needs to learn. The brother told this to the parents, but they scoffed at his idea. They told the older son that his brother was an idiot. He would never learn and he would never speak. 

The big brother was relentless, he said “No! William is a genius!” 

The ignorant parents only said “William was always going to be a simple child. He would go nowhere in life and would always be stupid.” 

The mother looked at her youngest child who had stood in the doorway, and heard his family’s cruel words. Marching over to him, she grabbed his arm and looked him in the eyes. “William, speak.” The young child’s unwavering blue eyes stayed fixed on his mother’s and said nothing. “Child! I said speak!” The mother dropped her hands from the boy and turned to his brother. “I told you. You brother is an idiot child and he will never learn. He doesn’t even feel things. He doesn’t understand anything we are saying. He. Is. Stupid!” The father didn’t say a word, he only turned away from the boy.

The older brother packed his bag that night. Without a word he slipped out the door and was gone.

The younger brother was lonely. He had this great big house, but it was only inhabited by echoes. He lived on the county side with miles to run and play, but no one to keep him company. The nannies gave up their quest to make the mute child sing. They left him to do as he pleased, only placing a sandwich within reach and then going back to their lives. The boy needed adventure, so he went and found it for himself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a short chapter!

He was six years old the first time he ran away from home. With a backpack filled with cereal and candy, he ran fast and far. William ran until he made it to a nearby town nearly 30 kilometers away. He spent the next two days exploring. He was fascinated by the people that strode by. They were so different from the ordinary, dull people that watched over him. He observed them all day and at night he curled into the alleyway and slept. It was on his third day, when he was taken by the arm, the little William was caught. An aging policeman found him asleep in the alley and brought him to the station. They couldn’t get the child to tell the police his name, or where he came from. The police had him for three hours, before a call came in saying they were missing a child. The nannies didn’t notice he had left, until they came to dress him to meet with his parents for dinner. They told the police he had been missing for a few hours. No one notice he had been gone for two days.

When the nannies dragged him home, his parents were waiting in the sitting room. They were told the same story as the police. Needless to say, a new batch of nannies arrived in the morning and the old ones gone without a goodbye. The parents left the very next day, however, to distract their kid from noticing the sudden change of nannies, they left a small bundle outside William’s room. 

Inside this bundle was William’s first friend. It was a small Irish Setter puppy with soft red fur. The boy and his dog became inseparable. The two of them took on the world. The boy dropped the long name and the demands that came with it and began to refer to himself Billy. Pirate Billy and his faithful companion Redbeard sailed the seas of imagination. Playing all day long and even into the night. Redbeard was perfect. He never demanded anything and would only obey his master Billy. No one else could figure out how the silent child got his dog to follow orders that were never spoken, but it was quite simple. The boy taught his best friend sign language. 

Three weeks after Billy’s six birthday, he woke up and his best friend wasn’t waiting for him. One of the nannies decided he needed let out for a bathroom break and Redbeard was hit by a car on the main road. Billy’s parents decided to put the dog down instead of preforming surgery on a worthless animal. When Billy woke his parents simply said “Your dog was hit by a car, so we had him put down.” Then they left on another one of their trips, leaving their child hurt and alone.


	4. Chapter 4

All alone once again, little Billy went to the Study and dialed his big brothers phone number. When the brother answered with a “Hello. Hello?” Billy was silent. “William? Is that you?” the only returning sound was his baby brother’s soft sniffles. “I am coming home, okay? I’ll be there soon.” 

When the big brother arrived from London three hours later, he found the little child curled into a ball on the bed he used to own. He shook his brother from his tear-lulled sleep and asked the troubled child what was wrong. The silent boy only held up a collar that used to adore his friend’s neck. “Your dog passed away?” the boy just shook his head ‘no’ and cried into his brother’s shirt. A few minutes later both siblings fell asleep. 

Early in the morning, before the sun had risen the little brother woke. He looked down at his big brother still asleep in the bed. The brother he never saw, but whose company he always enjoyed. The brother who had left school because of a one-sided phone call. He took his brother’s shoulders and shook until he too had woken. When the big brother was fully awake, he looked at William and said “What can I do? How can I make it better?” He hated seeing the pain in his brother’s eyes.

Summoning up all of his courage, the baby brother asked “Mye will you listen?”

Six years. The child had not said a single word in the six years since he was born and now he speaks? It was then, that the big brother finally realized. His brother could speak the whole time. But no one had ever asked if he had anything to say. 

They only demanded that he say something. Told him to repeat after them. Never once did they ask him if he had anything to say. Never once did they ask him how we was feeling. They only wanted words to come out of his mouth. They didn’t care what he had to say. They weren’t listening anyway. 

Running a hand through his brother’s soft curls he looked him in the eye and said “Yes. I will listen to everything you have to say.” 

And the brother spoke. He said everything. He asked all the questions he had been harboring inside. He told his brother about his first trip off the family property, and sitting in the police station waiting for someone to notice. He told him about people and how they were so different from the old ladies who take care of him. He shared all the different languages the previously silent boy knew. He told his big brother about the nannies who taught him even though he didn’t say anything. He told his brother about his best friend and how he called him Redbeard, though everyone else just called him Dog. He said he called himself Billy, because he and Redbeard were pirates. He spoke about their adventures and the games they would play. He laughed and told of the tricks he pulled on the nannies when they weren’t looking. He showed his brother the sign language he taught the Irish Setter. And finally he told his brother about the death. He told his brother the exact words his mother and father shared with him. He told his brother that his best friend didn’t die. He was killed. 

When Billy finished, he was no longer the mute little boy his brother had known. He was a child who was forced to grow up to fast. Who had been hurt his entire life by the people who were supposed to take care of him; love him. He had trusted everyone and then was let down by each and every one of them. 

The little boy asked “Mye, why does everyone keep leaving me? What did I do wrong?”

“Oh, Billy, no. You have done nothing wrong. You have had wrong done to you. You care about people too much. Some of them do not deserve that love.” 

“Mother said I do not have feeling. She said I do not care at all.”

“Billy, mother was wrong. You do care. But caring is not an advantage. Caring makes you hurt, like you hurt right now because of Redbeard. You cared about him and now he is gone. You are too trusting of others and it will hurt you. Be very careful Billy, some will take advantage of your caring.”

The big brother was trying to protect the child from the world. He was trying to keep him safe, to keep him from getting hurt again. He wanted to see the light that used to shine from the child’s eyes. He wanted to watch his baby brother grow and learn. He wanted him to be seen as the genius he is. 

“I will remember that, Mye. Thank you, but you better go. You have classes to attend and things to learn. I would like you to call me William, Billy is gone now.”

“What will you do William? You need to learn too. I can’t take you to the University with me, you’re only six they might have a problem with that. Mother and Father have already made their positions on school pretty clear.”

“I read Mye. I have almost read every book in our library!”

“I will send you some more. Along with some work books you can fill out. The only books we have in the library are study books, William. Have you never read a novel? A book just for reading and not learning?”

“I like learning. I like knowing stuff.”

“I’ll send back some novels also. Are you going to be speaking from now on?”

“No. Only to you Mye. You are the only one to listen.”

“You know my number, never hesitate to call okay?”

“Goodbye brother.”

“Goodbye.”


	5. Chapter 5

After his brother left, William went to the library and began studying. He threw himself into the books, reading everything he could. He spent the next two years learning everything he could possibly want to know about. He read each book Mye sent him, even the novels. When he received a laptop computer for his eighth birthday, he spend the entire day reading article after article. He read research papers and emailed back and forth with professors. He absorbed all his information and, after studying a psychology text book, he created a world inside his mind and he put all the information he learned in their own places. He called it his mind palace.

William still would not verbally speak to anyone other than his brother Mye. He would email, write, or text someone but never talk. His left his nannies hand writing notes occasionally but that was all. His parents never received anything from their son. To the world he was just another stupid child who couldn’t, or wouldn’t, speak. 

This all changed shortly after William’s eighth birthday. He felt he was ready to go to a real school. He had taken all the entrance exams and passes with a 100%. School would be easy for him. So William waited until his parents returned home from one of their trips.

They were sitting in the living room when William walked in. He stood in front of them and waited until they looked up from their books. 

“What do you want?” the father asked.

“Are you going to speak? Say something.” Called out The mother.

“Yes, I am going to speak. I would like to attend school this year, a real school. With other children. I have filled out the forms and I have taken the entrance exams. I’ve been accepted, all I need is your signature and I can go.” Handing his mother the papers he had hid behind his back, he waited for the answer.

“No. You are not going to school. We have discussed this before and the answer is no. You are an idiot child. It took you eight years to even say a few words and you probably stole the answers for the test from someone else. You are too stupid to go to school.”

“But Mother, listen to me! If I am too stupid to pass the test, do you really think I would be smart enough to steal the answers? Do you think I would be able to fill out the forms? To sign myself up for classes? I passed the test with a perfect score. Even most of the teachers miss questions! I am not stupid! I am a genius! Why won’t you listen to me?”

“You have nothing important to say. You are not going to school and that is the end of it. Now leave.”

William went back to his room and called his brother. He told them about the conversation. He spoke his first words to his parents and they didn’t even care. They still won’t let him go to school. If he didn’t go to school he couldn’t get into University. He told his brother that all he wanted to do is learn and it may never happen.


	6. Chapter 6

The next ten years went by indistinguishable from one another. It was just the same repetitive steps day after day. Wake up, study, and go to bed. He craved something more from his life. During those ten years William ran away 47 times. He didn’t just wander around like he did his first time. This time he studied people. Watched their habits, the way they walked, the way they ate, and the way they interacted together. He met homeless kids and studies their behavior. Soon he could mimic the kids around him and they let him stay with them. He continued to watch people and realized that he could take one glace and tell them anything about themselves. He used to set up in the park and for anyone willing to pay, he would tell them things a stranger wouldn’t know. All the money he made he gave to the homeless kids. He didn’t need it. Soon the police would pick him up and take him home once more. One time when William was 16 he was living on the streets for three weeks before his brother saw him and brought him back to the flat he owned. He lived with his brother for two months before his parents realized he was missing. Their son was gone for almost three months and they only noticed because a package from Mye arrived in the mail and he never picked it up. His parents told the police he had only been missing for a few days. Mye said William could stay with him longer, it wasn’t any inconvenience. The parents just used their favorite word “no” and dragged their son back home. 

The day William turned 18 he packed his bag and left home. He didn’t tell anyone he was leaving, no one would notice he was gone. He did, however, send an anonymous message to the police station stating “William is now 18. He hasn’t run away from home this time. He went out to make a better one.” By this time everyone at the station was familiar with the young man and many had found him interesting. Most of them regretted sending William back to a home, that didn’t even realize their son was gone. A large number of Police officers had heard the mother call her son “Stupid” and “Idiot” and scream at him that he never spoke. (He never spoke to them again after they told him he would never go to school) The Officers were confused by this. When they had the boy he would ask them about cases and forensic science and investigations. He was clearly intelligent. After they got the message that William had turned 18 they hung it on the wall. They were proud of him for making a better life.

William was accepted into high schools so he could graduate and then be accepted into University. It wasn’t hard grade wise, but he had trouble with the other students. Being a year older than everyone else meant the other kids bullied him and called him stupid. Laughed at him because he was different. When he tried to show them the tricks he learned and listed off facts about his classmates, they turned on him even more. The “Stupid” turned into “freak” and “weird”. He once more retreated into silence and avoided everyone. 

After graduation he finally had his goal in sight. He was going to go to University and learn more than he could with books and internet. He was going to meet with real people, who could teach him more than he already knows. He went to the classes, talked to the professors, but he wanted more. He knew what they knew. It wasn’t a challenge. He skipped class and people watched instead, only showing up to take the final exams. Which he passed with a perfect grade.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is reference to drug use in this chapter be warned. Also a dog.

William’s life was dull. There was no excitement, he was bored. That is until he was bitten on the leg by a viscous little dog. A man came running up after the animal screaming “No! Bad dog! Bad!” The man scoped up the little dog and glanced up at the man he had attacked. “I’m sorry about the dog. I’m watching him for a mate of mine. I’m just glad he will be picking him up soon!” William nodded and then glanced down at his leg. He had begun to bleed through his trousers. The stranger followed his glace. “You’re bleeding! Come back to my room I have a med kit we can use to patch you back up. And a cage for this mutt.”

So William followed the strange man and his baby-sitting monster of a dog. When they got to the stranger’s room William fell into the nearest seat and rolled up his trousers to study the wound in his leg. The stranger threw the dog into its cage and grabbed the med kit and set to fix up William’s leg. 

“Sorry about this mate. His leash got away from me.”

“No, it’s fine. It was just an accident.”

The man had put the last bit of plaster on William’s leg and stood up. “Might be a little late for this, but my name is Victor.”

“William.” He said reaching out to shake the man’s hand. “Thanks for patching me up.”

“No problem. Hey! You’re that bloke aren’t you! Yes! I recognize you now! You are they guy who can look at anyone and tell them their life story! Aren’t you?”

William looked down afraid to see the hate in this stranger’s eyes. “Yes, that’s me.”

“Hey mate that’s really cool! Can you teach me to do that?”

“Y-You don’t mind? You don’t care that I can look at you and know everything about you?”

“Nope! Just less I have to explain, right?”

It was with this man that William forgot Mye’s warnings. Forgot that caring only leads to pain. That trust can be betrayed. So when the stranger became his friend, he didn’t mind. And when the friend became something more he was overjoyed. Someone who didn’t hate him. Someone who thought what he did was amazing and didn’t label him as a freak. He did whatever Victor asked, because he thought that’s what he was supposed to do. He didn’t like it much, but it made Victor happy. So, when Victor found a way to make William enjoy it more, he went along with it. Soon Victor was giving more and more and it was harder to stop. Victor had been drugging William, and now that he had a drug addiction, Victor used it against him. He made William give him the answers to his finals or he would tell the School Board that William was cheating and he would tell them about the drugs. Everything William had ever worked for and it would be over. Victor knew this, but he just told William “I love you.” And William believed him because no one had ever told him that before. He did everything Victor asked, even if he didn’t want to, even if it hurt. 

After the finals Victor told William he was done with him. He didn’t need William anymore, he had passed. He would graduate. Victor told William “I don’t need you anymore, leave. I’m done dealing with you. You are nothing more than a freak. I never loved you and no one ever will.” Then he left. Just like all of the others. But this time he left a broken man. An addict no one will love, they will only leave.

William dropped out of University and lived on the streets. He pickpocketed for money and then spent it all buying more drugs. William had trained his mind to be like a computer. It saw everything. A thousand things at once. Sights, sounds, smells, he took it all in, all the time. The drugs shut down his mind. Stopped him from thinking. They let him rest. But he took too much, he wanted his mind to stop completely. He wanted free.

If it wasn’t for an off-the-clock detective walking by at the right moment William would be dead. The detective called an ambulance and saved his life. When William woke up in the hospital the detective was there and they had a talk. William was interested in his work. The next day the detective came back and brought some case files with him. Within a minute of reading through it, William solved the case and told him where to find the criminal.


	8. Chapter 8

“Do you know why I told you this story?” Sherlock Holmes asked the little boy sitting across from him.

The little boy shook his head ‘no’.

“I told you this story because in a way you and William are very similar.” 

“How am I similar to William?” The boy spoke for the first time since the police had picked him up.

“You and William both believed things that are not true. William believed what his big brother told him. You believed what your big brother told you. But they were both wrong.” 

“How do you know what my- How do you know they were wrong?”

“I know William’s big brother was wrong because caring is an advantage. And I know your big brother was wrong because your parents do care about you. You brother was angry and upset and he said something he shouldn’t have, but he was wrong.”

“How do you know my parents care about me? You don’t know me!” yelled the child.

“You are right I don’t know you, but I do know what pain and sadness and loss look like.” Pulling out his phone Sherlock tapped on the screen until he came up with an image. “This is the waiting outside that door right there. Do you see that couple? Do you recognize them?”

“That’s my Mum and Dad. Their crying.”

“They think you away because you hate them. They think they weren’t good enough parents. They were worried about you” Sherlock said softly. “They were afraid something might have happened to you. Your parents are nothing like William’s parents. They care.”

“No I have good parents! They take care of me, they love me!” The boy began crying. “Can I go with them? Am I going to jail? Can I tell them I love them?”

“Yes you can. We are not putting you in jail, you can go home.” 

The boy stood up and began wiping his tears. “Wait!” he shouted at Sherlock who had begun to make his way to the door.

“What’s wrong?” Sherlock asked

“The story. How did it end?”

“Well,” Sherlock began, “After William got out of the Hospital he changed his name again. The old name was filled with too much pain and reminded him of all the hurt he had felt. With a new name he started a new life. The detective who had saved him said he could help solve crimes for the police. But only if he promised to stop using drugs.”

“Did he?”

“He tried. But sometimes it got too much for him and he fell and used again. The detective would kick him off the case until he was clean again. It was a painful cycle. Until one day something great happened.”

“What is it? What happened?”

“A soldier walked through the door. But he wasn’t just any old soldier he was also a doctor. He was a contradiction on two legs. He took one look at the soldier and asked him ‘Afghanistan or Iraq?’ And the amazing thing? This soldier-doctor didn’t look at him like he was a freak. He said ‘Amazing’ and ‘Brilliant’. This man’s name was John. John kept him clean. He began to fix the broken man. He stitched him back together. He made him whole again. The man hasn’t done drugs in over 5 years. He even created a job for himself ‘The Consulting Detective’. The only one in the world. People come from all over for him to solve their cases. But the most important thing is The Consulting Detective learned something. He learned that it’s okay to care. He learned to love again.”


	9. Chapter 9

“I’m glad everything turned out okay for him. He had a hard life, but he is happy now. And that’s all that matters.” The young boy said. “Thank you for sharing the story with me Mr.-?”

“William Sherlock Scott Holmes. Consulting Detective.” He reached out to shake the boy’s hand.

“You’re him! You’re William!” The boy shouted!

“Yes I am.”

“You’re a hero! Mr. Holmes!”

“No I’m afraid I am not. I have too much of a bad past to be the good guy.”

“All of the heroes have a troubled past. It’s the fact that they got past it, they made it better. Now they use it to help people. That’s what makes a hero. Taking all the bad from your life and turning it into something good. You’ve done that Mr. Holmes. Thank you.” The young boy wrapped the Detective in a hug.

“I didn’t mean too.” Sherlock Holmes said quietly. “I didn’t mean too.” 

The two broke apart from their hug as the door to the interrogation room swung open. In bursts the boy’s parents and picked up the child into a tight hug. “Liam, you’re safe. Oh thank you! My baby! I thought I would never seem you again. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay Mum, I understand now. I know you love me.”

As the family joined together in reunion, Sherlock slipped out the door and down the hall. 

“Not so fast. You can’t make your Soldier cry and then leave. Come here.”

Sherlock wrapped his Soldier-Doctor into a tight hung and began to cry. All the pain and hurt and distrust washed away with his tears. He didn’t have to worry now. He was safe and John would never hurt him. He would never leave him like all the others had. He was able to love John Watson without fear. He just hugged him tighter and let all the pain wash away. The Soldier would protect him. 

The Detective, Greg Lestrade, made his way over to his office and looked at the wall. Right in the middle was a picture frame. It had always been there and he was told “This is to remind us that sometimes doing our job is hard, but it is always worth it.” Framed on the wall is a hand written note that reads “William is now 18. He hasn’t run away from home this time. He went out to make a better one."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end of it! Hope you all enjoyed it and please don't kill me if you didn't. I love to read through your comments. They help make every story better. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!


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